Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item The Performance of Remastery in Theatre and Media(2023) Miller, Alexander Williams; Harding, James M; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Within the field of mediatized performance, there are many terms that rely upon the “re-” prefix. Terms like remediation and remix have been utilized for the last two decades in discussions of how digital media has affected our perceptions of live performance. This dissertation analyzes the potential of a third “re-:” remastering. Remastering refers to the act of “touching up” older mediums, mostly vinyl discs and reels of film, digitizing the media they contain while improving the overall quality of sounds and/or images. With this sort of digital augmentation affecting the audience reception of media, the question emerges: how can we think of the remastering process as performative?This project centers on the notion that performance studies provide an excellent template to begin to answer the questions that arise surrounding remastering. It explores technical acts of remastering through the lens of performance and performativity to develop a working theory of remastery. This theory draws upon and expands previous conversations surrounding both digital media and performance. Starting with a discussion of the technical requirements that go into remastering in general, I develop a working understanding and theory of remastery. This theory centers remastery as a performative action that can shed light on the power dynamics that underpin our cultural interest in obsolescence, nostalgia, and technology. In discussing this theory of remastery, four case studies of remastered media are analyzed, each providing a different facet of my theory. The first is The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records: a remastered collection of work from a defunct inter-war recording company that produced a wide variety of African American Artists and performers. The second is the various remastered versions of Star Wars and their effect on the prospects of authenticity and alteration within remastering. The third is Warcraft III: Reforged, a remastered videogame from 2020 that was met with critical and commercial failure. The fourth is Elements of Oz by The Builders Association, a live production of multimedia theatre that demonstrates the usefulness of remastery as a theoretical concept to bridge the gap between performance and technology.Item Building Virtual Friendships through Mirrored Gestures(2022) Oshiro, Miya Sanura; Leitch, Alex; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)During the COVID-19 pandemic isolation period, social gaming was an effective way for people to find connections and alleviate feelings of loneliness. However, the communication systems built within these games have limitations. In-game communication systems usually consist of emotes, predetermined avatar gestures, and simple chat features. Due to these limitations, critical social cues, such as nonverbal synchrony, are lost during these online interactions. This study evaluates the integration of nonverbal gesture synchrony in social games as a potential addition to existing communication systems to foster genuine social connections between players during online play. The game environment for this research study is an emote-based and a gesture-based version of the social game KANDI.io. When comparing the two versions in structured game sessions, this study found an enjoyment preference for the gesture-based experience. However, after further discussion, it was determined that there was no overall preference for this experience over the emote-based design. These results revealed that when engaging with open-play games like the gesture-based system, some players felt vulnerable, experienced player distrust, and became more conscious of the interaction context.Item Ludic Borders(2022) Smith, Andrew W; Kraus, Kari; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Game design techniques are used to motivate participation in professional, educational, political, and social environments. This research study introduces the theory of ludic borders to examine how the boundary of gamespace is a design product that influences players beyond increasing motivation. Framing the crossing of the ludic border as a negotiation between the design choices of the game designer and the identity of the player, this research considers how game design elements such as visual aesthetics and collaborative mechanics influence the construction of the border. In addition, this research considers how particular characteristics of a player’s identity, such as the frequency with which they play games, influences their crossing of the ludic border. Based on gameplay observation, this research finds that visual aesthetics, gaming frequency, and other factors can influence the extent to which a player expresses their beliefs through their in-game decisions.